Database files - Naming convention and Planning Critical Reflection

This week looking at the information contained of FileMaker file for the church database in more detail, the information or naming convention doesn't match to the ones shown in the sketchup model. I've exported the information into 2 excel files to be translate its information better and be more accessible to the group. 1 file for the description of components within the church, its date, cost, campaign and location. The other excel file is for the sketchup model file, as it lists every component within the church with its corresponding campaign ID, code, label, level, sequence and label. This file will be a base for renaming the components within the sketchup model to match its naming convention of the database so that it'll link up once we reach that stage of our work.

The naming convention would be the building name, campaign ID then course ID. e.g. CERSE_2a_BAS With the information given from the database, this style of naming the components is more efficient because the components are basically divided into campaigns and courses (2a, 2b, 2c, etc.) Trying to get a good understanding of what certain categories mean in the database, I've taken a look into each and every category, and I've noticed the categories LABEL_ACTION and SEQ will help us greatly in developing our interface, in terms of displaying the information and connecting them. LABEL_ACTION relates to the LABEL category. LABEL is the description of the element while LABEL_ACTION is an action of how to represent that LABEL. E.g. these actions can be graphic or text or others. Knowing this, the interface can be developed in displaying a graphical image of an element or related using the information of LABEL_ACTION and LABEL given. Also, SEQ is the order of information to be displayed in a searching pane, when the user wants to search something specific.

The group presentation done for planning by the Bus stop group looked very detailed and planned out. They included many types of management systems and plans that would relate to their project and plan out each stage of the process of their project. It included a project plan, giving concise and planned out information of the goals set out for the project, a risk management plan, time management plan and cost management plan. For our group (Gothic architecture), we didn't create a cost management plan as it didn't really relate to our work, but creating a time management and project plan (which we did) really does organise the group in its goals and decisions which is important in the long run. The risk management plan is like for backups and plans in case of emergencies, and I find this very useful to have because things don't always go the way you want it to in a project, especially working under a client where things are constantly changing. Since this group is doing the bus stop project, having a cost management plan is very useful for them, as it allows you to have a controlled amount of what areas you are spending on, while also knowing you have the right amount for other expenditures in the future.

As for the presentation done by the Aerial rope way project, they presented a strategic and tactical planning towards their project. They planned out various stages of their project, allocating each of their members specific tasks that needs to be done in a certain time frame. So it's pretty much focused primarily on Gantt charts and project planning. I see this as very advantageous to them in relation to the project they're doing. There are many different tasks involved such as modelling, animation, environment creation, etc., and by creating stages of goals to reach, it motivates the team members to reach them.